Mostar, Berlin, Kosovska Mitrovica, Beirut. Four cities marked by a common fate: divided, ghettos for their own citizens and frontiers between worlds in conflict. The “Festival of Art in Divided Cities”, held in Mostar in April, sought to demystify stereotypes and to create new connections
Irakli Alasania, 35, one of the emergent leaders of the opposition in Georgia, is currently running for mayor of Tblisi. If Alasania is elected mayor in local elections in the capital city (May 30), he could become one of Saakashvili's most credible opponents in the presidential elections scheduled for 2013. OBC interviewed him
Quite surprisingly, Macedonians have little interest in the Greek crisis on the other side of their southern border. Financial authorities forecast limited risks for the country, while some secretly rejoice at the difficulties of Macedonia’s opponent in the name dispute of the past decades
For the Western viewer, a well-acted comedy; for the Bulgarian audience, crazy laughs as well as disillusionment for the broken dreams of transition and an elite that turned out to be dishonest and useless. Now in cinemas, Mission London, from Alek Popov's best-seller
Internationals and locals in Kosovo, two groups that sometimes seem to inhabit separate worlds, have difficulties communicating because of stereotypes held by both sides. Playwright Jeton Neziraj and his German counterpart Kathrin Röggla have explored the subject in a series of correspondences; now edited under the title “Pizza UNMIK”
A construction boom is dramatically transforming the urban face of Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku, yet questions are being raised about the sustainability of the process, especially where historical districts are concerned
Romania continues to be one of the poorest countries in the EU. The international crisis causes a rapid worsening of conditions. The Romanian political elite concentrate, above all, on more centralisation of power. A weak civil society desperately struggles to be heard
Months of obsessive treatment, because in a Yugoslavia struck by a deep-crisis, Tito should have not died. Instead, in the afternoon of May 4th 1980, the inevitable happened. Thirty years since the death of the Marshal, thirty years since the beginning of the end of Yugoslavia
Four months after Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci announced a government reshuffle, it eventually became real in Pristina on April 1. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find any strategy and clear political guidelines behind the initiative
The Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna, togheter with the Faculties of Political Sciences, of Law, and of Islamic Sciences of the University in Sarajevo, launched in 2009 a series of international conferences on constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The proposals emerged from the discussion
A real construction boom is taking place in Georgia, but the recent world financial crisis has had serious consequences for the construction sector; a sector in which the state is one of the major stakeholders
According to Tim Judah every EU foreign minister should immediately read this book. In Why Europe Fears its Neighbors, Fabrizio Tassinari talks of the EU’s anxiety about those just beyond its borders. We interviewed him here
The New Wave in the former Yugoslavia: the social, cultural, and political coordinates of an underground phenomenon transcending the former republics.An interview with Dragica Vukadinović, curator of the exhibition "New Wave at the Skc (Student Cultural Centre) 1977-1989". The Belgrade Scene
Wrongdoings by the former secretary of the Kosovo Eparchy Archbishop Artemije are at the root of a scandal that dates back years and is bringing political hostility and conflicts of interest to the surface inside the local hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church
A new compilation of songs from the Yugoslav sixties and seventies has emerged, with the songs reinterpreted in a contemporary way. The producers of the three-disc trilogy are DJs Bakto, Woo-d, and Borka, three Slovenian deejays long active in the electro, hip-hop, and drum and bass fields
Serbia is rich in geothermal fluids, a source of clean energy that could be tapped with additional knowledge and better tools. A consortium of Tuscan municipalities and Serbian local institutions are working together to make some progress
Urban development concerns over church territory restoration in Yerevan. After the destruction of city parks and controversial projects such as Northern Avenue, the reaction of residents against the planned demolition of historical Cinema Moscow Open-Air Hall
Political and religious satire in Turkey. The old humour tradition, popularity among the masses, legal controversies. Our interview with Metin Üstündağ, cofounder of the humour and satire magazine "Penguen"
After 13 hours of heated debate, the Serbian Parliament approved (127 yes votes from 250 deputies) a resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre. The document contains apologies to the victims' families, but does not use the word “genocide”. A commentary
After Moldova's contested parliamentary elections on 6-7 April 2009, peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violent clashes between protesters and police. Civil activists Ghenadie and Oleg Brega remember those days. An interview
